Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Here is an idea, just for variety, instead of rolling all the norimaki with seaweed leave some without and then stick on some flower petals (find out here what flowers you can eat  here ) I used impatiens here, not many people know that you can eat them, they taste a little like rocket salad. And if rolling the sushi in petals is too hard you can always put the flowers on the top. Below vegan norimaki with fresh borage flowers and salted sakura (cherry blossoms).  Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

When I was teaching Italian in Japan I once asked my students to tell me what was the typical Japanese dish they had for dinner, one answered ochazuke, and everybody laughed! Ochazuke meant that you lived alone, or your mum/wife was out for the night and you couldn't cook. Or that you run out of money! For homework they had to write a description of Ochazuke (in Italian) and the week after they came with their recipes and, most surprising for me, they all brought a sachet of flavoring for ochazuke, for me to try. The basic idea is to use leftover plain rice and top it with hot green tea, and then some toppings (and these where the sachets, a bit like  furikake , but with green tea added, so that you just needed hot water). Most of the students in that class were young and lived by themselves, thus the need of quick comfort food, and they always had left over rice, and possibly a sachet of seasoning. I got to love ochazuke, but rather than seasoning from a sachet I use some cho...

Just cook the soba and top with the rest of the ingredients. To serve just add a drop of soy sauce. To make the nori tagliolini ... well look  here ! For the onion weed... just forage it, wash and cut (you can eat the flowers, stems and bulbs... the lot!). I bought the salted sakura (cherry blossoms)  here , I love them, a bit like salted capers really!   Photos and recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

I like small things, even when it comes to food: small plates with small tastings, miniature bites, doll houses' type of things...  This is a 'fruit salad' that could be served at the end of a formal 'Japanese' meal, where presentation is important and fruit is often the only dessert, or at the end of a formal Italian meal (we also tend to have fruit rather than 'pudding'). For the dressing I used some  Aceto Tradiozionale Balsamico di Modena , not to be confused with  Aceto Balsamico di Modena  (they are two different products) and it goes well with all the fruit used here, including bananas. And to accompany, no ice-cream or similar, but I dared to be different and went for fresh petals... if you choose them go for pink, cherry or peach, and yes, they can also be dipped in the  ABTM  and eaten,  I did it (but I don't know many other people who regularly eat flowers like I do :-). Ingredients: for each person: 2 slices...